Happy Easter...

Today the duck and I are going out to eat and spend a bit of time together.  I don't post much about religion but this is a very holy day for Christians and whether you are religious or not please have a lovely glorious day!

I hope the Easter Bunny visited all of you and left you jelly beans and chocolate chicks and lots and lots of peeps.  

Saturday in paradise...

I had a nice time yesterday at canasta, it was a game I had never subbed in before but I had played with those gals and we had fun.  There weren't many people in the card room either.

It's just beautiful out here now.  Not quite warm enough to swim but not far from it either.

I'm having a day off today since I had to "work" yesterday.  No plans other than watching Homeland.  Man it is one of the best series I have ever watched.  They could be a tad bit less explicit on the sex scenes but the story and the actors are really good.  I hope I have enough time to finish watching it before my free Showtime week is gone.

And I hope your Saturday is totally tits.  Mine will be for sure...  And tomorrow is Easter and the last day of March.

Friday stuff and other stuff...

My orchid is blooming again!  This one came to me from someone dear to me in California and the pink blooms are not real, Daniel and Jane put that in my orchid plant for me but then - - - the white blooms came back again!  There are two so far.

Well guess what happened to me yesterday?  I was in the Grille Room at the club before canasta and as I was leaving I passed by a friend's table and I heard her say to her lunchmates "look at her, she looks gorgeous, and she used to be HUGE!"  Big emphasis on the huge part too.  I didn't act like I heard her but then when I thought about it I couldn't decide whether to be happy or sad.  I still don't.  Maybe some of both.

Today I am subbing in a game and I like the gals so it'll be fun.  I don't want a full time Friday game though because as we all know that is my day off.

Oh, another thing, I just found out yesterday that Comcast has a free week of everything, of course it's half over already but I am loving watching the "Homeland" series on Showtime.  I am already half through season one.  It's really good but has some nudity.  I close my eyes at those parts because I don't want to go blind.

Have a great Friday y'all.  I will too...

Bee Bandwagon Apple Pie!!!

I saw a photo of these somewhere, don't remember where but thought it was a great Bee Bandwagon idea.  145 calories, pretty, healthy, and delicious!  

1 medium apple - 80 calories

1" strip refrigerator pie crust - 50 calories

1 teaspoon sugar - 15 calories

1 teaspoon lemon juice - 0

dash cinnamon - 0

Cut the top off the apple and using a melon baller (carefully) remove apple leaving about 1/2 inch of apple.  Cut up fine, and then add the sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon to cut up apple and place back in apple, piling it up a bit to use it all. 

First of all don't ask what a "strip" of pie crust is.  I took one of those rolled up refrigerator crusts and cut about an inch of it and cut that into 3 strips and broke each of those in half.  (see photo)

Place strips of crust on top and bake at 350* 45 minutes until browned, bubbly, and tender.  Then when cool you can eat the whole thing!

Oh, and please notice the pink and green dishes above!  Score at Bed Bath and Beyond!

Well, I tried!

I moved things around a bit.  Everything I tried to remove got put back.  It's neater now but still way too much stuff there.  I will try again another time.

Oh, and stay tuned tomorrow for a great new Bee Bandwagon dessert!  You won't be sorry!

Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day!

There is still too much krap on my shelves but it's all stuff I like so I have a dilemma. Maybe I can just neaten it up a bit more and keep my krap.  Or maybe put some of it in the closet and change it out several times a year.  Something like that.  I don't like the jumbled up look it has now but everything there means something to me.

Oh, I almost forgot!  I won big at poker last night!  Really big!  There is no MahJong today so I might have to go spend some of it!  I hit another big hand too, where everybody had to pay me three dollars, it was a straight flush.

I think a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond might be in order.  I'm thinking maybe some pink dishes!

The new MahJong card came and I want to play with it so bad but no game, rats.  It looks like a great card too, I like lots of the hands this year.

Have a wonderful Wednesday and if you have your Prince Spaghetti, enjoy it.  I won't be indulging though.  I had pizza last night.

Tuesday in paradise

This is where the new resort will be built.  They got the first zoning to "commercial" past the City Commissioners and now it is on to Tallahassee for approval and then site plans next.  My best guess is about five years to completion but I believe it will be lovely.  We just have to get past all the building stuff first.  They are no longer taking very good care of the golf course.  (There are two, the other one is pristine.)  This one will close soon.  It's been here thirty years and now they will have to remove dirt as there is arsenic in the soil from years of fertilizers.  Who knew it is so hard to remove a golf course?

Never been through the Panama Canal?  Here is the Carnival Miracle in less than two minutes doing just that.  Now you know why the larger ships have to go around!

CARNIVAL MIRACLE – PANAMA CANAL CROSSING | John Heald's Blog

I delivered my (much appreciated) macaroons yesterday and ate one of my cupcakes.  I have to say the macaroons sure did look and smell good and the texture seemed great too.  Very easy recipe but not low calorie.

Today is canasta and we are having pizza at poker tonight so no dinner for me first.  If I blot the pizza really good I can have two slices for 500 calories and I'll be fine.  They'll have salad too, and diet coke.

Have a great Tuesday y'all.  I know I will too!

Windy and warm, for now...

Yes it did hit 89* but the wind was really really strong.  The pool was like one of those pools that you swim against the current.  I went down to try but didn't think I could do it.  The winds were over 25 mph!  There were two kids in there roughhousing so I waited until they were done and went in.  It was really hard but still fun.

But look what is ahead!  Going from 89* to 45* in two days!  Yikes!  That was a mighty short summer folks.

At least it will be sunny but it sure will cool off that water again. That heater will be working full time.  I will be so happy when summer gets here and it is warm every day.  And the building empties out!  Ha...

Yesterday the duck had a cold so we didn't go shopping, I went by myself.  It was hard to drive in all that wind too.  I went on I-95 and it was really blowing me around.

Then I came home and made coconut macaroons for a friend for Passover.  I didn't eat any either but they sure smelled good.  I didn't even lick the bowl from the chocolate I dipped them in.  I put it right in the sink and ran water in it so I wouldn't be tempted because I bought really good chocolate.

And after that I might have made some Bee Bandwagon cupcakes.  Or not.  But I probably did.  Okay, I did.

And that, my friends, is all I have in my brain for today.  Have a wonderful Monday and new week and happy holidays, whichever ones you celebrate.

Yesterday was so warm I got home from cards and ran upstairs to change and get in the pool.  The water was very warm and delicious and it felt so good to get back in.  Today is heading toward 90 and you know where I'll be for sure.  Besides burning a lot of calories it just feels so good.  I sleep so much better when I get this exercise too.  

I made those fish tacos again last night.  They were just so good!  Besides I had another avocado that needed using.  I have been finding small ones lately that are really good.  I know they are high calorie but they are so healthy I still eat them sometimes.  This week I won't buy them though, I have eaten two already.

Oh, and do you remember how, years ago, we would take the seed from an avocado and put three toothpicks in it and put it in a glass of water to grow a tree?  Well I did that yesterday to see what happens.  If it grows I'll show you.  I don't know why I remembered doing that, it just kicked in.  I guess the fish oil was working.

Have a wonderful Sunday y'all.  I will too, I'll be you-know-where!

Fish tacos and fun!

Is my world beautiful or what?  I love to sit on the terrace at sunset and just watch the changing sky.  It seems to change by the minute.

I also love fish.  I mean I really LOVE fish.  I decided to make some Bee Bandwagon fish tacos because I also love tacos but I don't love lots of calories in them.  Here is what I did...

I baked one tilapia filet at 350 for about 14 minutes.  I only added a tiny bit of salt and some black pepper to the tilapia.  I heated the shells for the 8 minutes they say during this time in the oven.

When done I divided the fish into three portions and added a tablespoon of my cole slaw and some wonderful avocado.  They came in at 470 calories for three.  They were just delicious and extremely healthy.  I will definitely make these again.  There is good fat, healthy protein, and taste!  

Other things you could add:  lemon juice, salsa, shredded lettuce.  I would not add cheese because I don't eat cheese on seafood.

Prep time, 10 minutes, total time, 25 minutes.  Score!

Have a great Saturday y'all.  I am playing canasta today so I know I will too!

Friday and I'm off!

See the re-potted african violet blooming already?  That plant has had blooms every day for almost three years now.  It was so pot bound I was afraid it would die if I didn't re-pot it even though it was in full bloom.  I think it will be fine though.

So yesterday I had a nice canasta game but never did get any good cards all day long, I ended up losing $11.25 which is quite a lot for canasta.  I'll recover next time but think about it this way, I had hours of fun for eleven bucks, right?

Today I am off so I think I'll run to the fruit stand.  What an exciting life I lead!  Then I am invited to another condo in the evening for "cocktail hour" (I'll have diet coke) and then we are going to hear a speaker.  It's a night out and we'll see what happens.  There are four of us (widows) going.

Have a wonderful Friday y'all.  Then it'll be the weekend!

Thursday in paradise...

Well it's another lovely day in paradise y'all.  We had a good MahJong game yesterday, I only Maj'd once but it was still a lot of fun and we laughed and just cut up some.  Such sweet gals.

Today is canasta and I like the Thursday game.   Well I like everything I do actually.  If I don't like it I don't do it.  Life is much too short to spend it doing things you don't like to do.  I spent many years doing just that but no more.

I have so much energy now too.  I haven't had this much energy since, well, I don't really know how long but I sure have it now.  When I think about how I was carrying around 82 pounds of butter everywhere I went, no wonder I had no get up and go.  

Last night I was laying in bed talking to Sarge and telling him how much I loved my life and that I missed him so much but that I was not unhappy.  Nope, not me.

And if someone pisses me off I just oust them from my world.  Kind of like a bite-me-gram of the mind.  Only nice happy positive people are allowed.  Yup, that's the ticket.

And so my friends, if you fit into the above happy world, great.  If not, let's try to get you there...

I still don't have any art on the walls in the bedroom but that is going to change soon I understand.  I also decided to have a runner made for the bottom of the bed in the same fabric since I have some left.  I know you can see where the two mattresses meet but can't really do anything about that because the beds go up and down individually and I need to separate them when D#1 comes to visit and all, so it is what it is and they are so comfortable I wouldn't change them anyway.  (Was that a run-on sentence?)  Anyway I kind of thought the runner would hide a bit of the beds separation.

And yesterday morning I got up as usual and got on the scale and I dropped TWO WHOLE POUNDS!!!  Well if THAT didn't make my day nothing ever will I tell you.  

I lost at poker but not too much but after that number on the scale nothing could make me upset!  Oh, and I got four aces one hand!  So when that happens it's called a "high hand" and everyone had to give me three extra dollars.  (That is a table rule.)  And I still managed to lose! ha ha  Anyway it was a fun evening and I didn't lose too much.

Today is MahJong and lunch with my favorite gals.  Hope your day is as good as mine!

Tuesday stuff in paradise...

Remember the other day I told you I repotted some african violets?  They are about to bloom already!  

Today is canasta and tonight is poker.  Hope I do okay.

It's warmer now, not quite warm enough to swim but I don't think it will be too much longer.  I seriously feel SO much better when I can exercise in the pool.  

Yesterday I had one of those down days where I didn't get dressed all day.  I did have a shower and change clothes but never left the apartment or got dressed.  It was lovely.  I wouldn't want too many days like that but once in a while it's fabulous.

Have a great Tuesday y'all.  I will too...

Ahhh, it's Monday again!

I think my other cat was jealous so he had to get a pink collar too, his has a red heart pin on it.  He's stylin' and he likes it.

Yesterday the Walmart wasn't bad at all.  Didn't even have to wait in the checkout line, got right through lickity split.  Don't know why but I sure did like it.  Oh, and they had those chickens that I like to roast again too so I got one and put it in the oven when I got home (breast side down) and boy howdy was that good!  I tossed a nice sweet potato in with it.

I also started a bit of beading again.  I haven't decided where will be my "bead home" yet in the newly done apartment.  I'm thinking a corner of the bedroom maybe.  Times like these almost make me wish I had bought a bigger apartment but then I think I don't really need any more space for just me.  Anyway I am not moving, that's for sure.

Hope your Monday and the new week bring you joy, mine will for sure.

Ahhh, Sunday again.  Already.  With only two more weeks left in the month of March.

Yesterday's canasta started out with me losing big but I made a great comeback and ended up a winner.  Well being out with friends and having fun makes me a winner either way, but still...

We are supposed to get to 78 degrees today.  Not quite swimming pool weather but not far from it.  I have been walking but it's not as good of a workout as I get in the pool and I can do so much more there and it is so easy on my joints.  Remember I do have arthritis in both hips so sometimes walking hurts.

Today will find me back in the Walmart.  It hasn't been to bad lately, hope today is good.

Have a wonderful Sunday y'all.  I sure know I will!

The show went really well...

Just beautiful things!

Very well received by the ladies too.

And then after lunch they brought me this little beauty!

Honestly I only ate part of it.

No, I swear!

I had a really good time too.  I just love touching the beads.  I guess I am a bead-a-holic!  Touching beads is so soothing to me.

Today I have to sub in a canasta game, it's a nice game, I like the gals.  Hope your Saturday is as good as mine.  It's warming up here!

Friday in paradise...

It's cool here, hopefully this will be the last cold front that goes through because you all know how much I dislike the cold.  That pool is beckoning me!

Today, as I told you yesterday, I will be helping my friend Carole with her jewelry sale at the club with 20% to benefit ARC.  

I guess everyone has heard that Google Reader is going away soon.  I now have an Apple App for my MAC $4.99 in the Apple store that blows the Google Reader away.  You can even comment on a post right in the reader.  It is called Reeder.  I think it only works on Apple but I'm not sure about that.  All my feeds transferred over instantly.  I have now closed my Google Reader for good.  I really wish I had found this sooner.

I keep thinking I am not losing weight but when I look back at the numbers, I am.  It's just very slow now and I am not willing to eat any less.  So okay, it's moving and I feel great and the doctor's visit was great so I am not going to worry about it, just keep on keepin' on.

Have a great Friday y'all.  I will too...

Thursday and no games today...

Two of our gals are gone this week so I don't have a canasta game today and Steve and Jane are coming today so I'll have to find somewhere else to go.  I think I'll hit Publix and maybe the fruit stand early this week.  I usually go on Friday.  I have to get out of the house or they talk to me.  And stand there while they do. But they sure do clean good!! 

Also on Friday this week I am helping one of our MahJong gals do a jewelry show at the club with 20% going to charity.  She makes really really beautiful things.  I get some of my beads from her as she orders in large quantities at wholesale prices.  

I am not Catholic but like the new pope.  I think it matters to all of us and think he will do a wonderful job.  Someone needs to bring more people together and it's sure not our government.  And he tweets!  Too funny.

And so my friends, please have a perfectly lovely day.  I will too.

Wednesday is MahJong!

Yesterday my canasta game got canceled because the one with the husband that is still alive had to take him to the hospital, he was sick, not sure what was wrong though.  So I took the time to do some things in the house like re-potting my african violet and dividing it.  Hope the little ones live.  I had to buy special potting soil for them.

I also watched a good bit of the papal news on tv.  I think the process is fascinating and I also think the outcome will matter to us all one way or another.  After all in my mind anyway he is a world leader.  

I also used the time to roast a big tray of vegetables.  Delicious.  All kinds, mushrooms, onions, potato, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, carrots.  All I put on them is a tiny bit of salt, lots of pepper, and some pam spray.

At poker last night I lost all my money.  Buggers to that.  Plus since I didn't play canasta and win anything I'm not even this time!  Next time will be better.  I hope.

Guess that's about it from paradise today.  No swimming yet, still too cool.  Have a lovely day y'all.  I will too, I'll be playing Maj!

Is there such a thing?

You know the old adage that there is no such thing as a stupid question?  Well it's no longer true.  Nope.  We had a meeting yesterday about the new resort behind us and there were lots of interested people attending.  They took questions from the audience.  One of my "two friends" (wink) asked the following:  "Are those new lakes man-made?"  Thud...

Are my eyes getting bluer yet?  I think so.  Funny thing, huh?  I understand this happens occasionally but I have never known anyone else that it happened to.  y'all.  And it's not a reflexion of my clothes because they are that blue no matter what I wear.

Today is canasta and poker.  I am getting tired of having two games on one day and may give up my Tuesday canasta game.  Not sure yet.

Have yourselves a lovely Tuesday.  I will too!

Monday again, already!

First up was a ride down the ocean.

It was totally beautiful!

Then on to the Ritz Carlton for the CARP event.  There were 32 tables of 10.  Every chair was filled.  The tickets were $150 each.  The donations were amazing.  I mean amazing.  I won one auction only.  There were many $10,000 donations.  

One thing happened that totally mortified me though.  This photo is the duck and Bernard, the head honcho of the Fern House.  He was also the only black guest.  Someone asked him to bring them some water.  Can you imagine?  He was very gracious though.  I was lucky enough to be seated at his table.

I saw lots of people I knew from Palm Beach from my working days.  Same old crowd but they did open their wallets I must say.

Next up is the Fern House's fund raiser.  Hope they do as well!