ahhhh, Saturday

It's been a few days... I guess that's what happens when you don't have so many snow days to fill up with blogging! Adam and I just got back from a lovely little hike on a local trail - a perfect Saturday morning. I was given these terrific boxes from a teacher I work with - she had them filled with all sorts of sweet things for baby G from Frenchy's! She knows the way to my heart! I don't have specific plans for the boxes yet, but I know they will be put to good use.

Kind of a funny story about the coffee beans: Since I've been pregnant, my senses of smell and taste have been incredibly more sensitive than usual. Which is great when I'm smelling or eating something wonderful, because it's all the better. Something unpleasant, however, is an entirely different matter. On the positive side of things, I was cleaning the pantry last week and found these Java Moose mocha coffee beans. I gave them a sniff, and nearly fell over, they smelled SO good. (Note: I don't drink coffee at the best of times, because I can't stand the taste. But I've always liked the smell.) So that I could enjoy the smell more often, I put a few in a little jar on the kitchen windowsill. Every time I go by, I give them a deep breath in, and it makes everything wonderful. To be completely forthright, I also took a few beans to my office. Adam thinks this is funny.
Other Saturday morning goodness - smoothies! When I have the time and the goods, I love to make a smoothie in the morning. And it really doesn't take much of either time or goods, so it happens pretty frequently.

Loose guidelines for a delicious smoothie, open to as many modifications and adaptations as desired:

Toss into blender:
yogurt (my favourite is Activia vanilla for smoothies)
banana
whatever other fruit is desired (I have kiwi and lots of blueberries in this one)
something sweet (honey or maple syrup)
ground flax seed for those omega-3's
a bit of milk to thin for good blending (especially important when using frozen chunky fruit)

Blend until smooth and serve as soon as possible. Extra smoothie will keep in the fridge for most of a day, but it's just not quite as good after it's been in the fridge for awhile.
I came across Alicia Paulson's blog featuring Audrey the dog (amongst other crafty wonderful-ness) a couple of weeks ago, and saw that her home is featured in the March edition of Romantic Homes. After looking at some of the images, I thought "Oh, I'd love to get my hands on a copy" but thought that it might be hard to come across here in Yarmouth. To my great and pleasant surprise, when Adam and I were on our weekly Globe and Mail expedition this morning, they had one copy left at Toots! Yay, some last-weekend-in-February reading! And might I also point out that daylight savings time changes in two weeks? Hallelujah!
In other house-y things, the avocado plant hasn't sprouted yet, but apparently you're supposed to wait 8 weeks before giving up hope. It's been less than 2, so maybe I'm just a little impatient. I brought in some quince branches for forcing yesterday, and I love how they look even without blooms. And that mug is one of my favourite little things I've ever found at Frenchy's. I'm going to try some honeysuckle vines, too, which I've never done before. My hyacinth in the cupboard is making slow and steady progress - I'll post pictures if it ever blooms!