Up Up and Away

The more we travel, the less we want to tote along with us. As we age our desire to be seen dressed in some semblance of today's fashion is fast fading away. A good suitcase pack job now consists of the old standards, 1 weeks worth of T-shirts and undies, 2 pair of slacks (one light weight, 1 blue jeans), several pair of black sport socks, 1 nightgown and a warm sweater. If room allows, toss in a 2nd pair of shoes to alternate with the running shoes on our feet.

When we see couples our age in the airport lugging 2 giant cases each, plus various carryons and backpacks, I wonder just what they could possibly be lugging along? For our 5 week holiday last year, we each had 1 suitcase and backpack (1 camera pack, 1 computer pack), plus we brought along another case full of items that Chris had left at home or asked that we bring as they were hard to find in Scotland (like peanut butter).

My theory on vacation packing is driven by the fact that, our daughter aside, we don't know anyone we will be meeting. We will likely never see them again, so why would we want to take a different wardrobe for each day to ensure we aren't seen twice in the same outfit?

Besides packing up, we're trying to get the house into some sort of order for our housesitter. She is a university student who will be preparing for her fall work term, and will be way too busy to have wild parties or anything of that ilk. We are so fortunate to have her move in, and that she loves cats is an A-1 bonus.

My only other accomplishment this month has been in the kitchen. Chris had posted photos of her Chicken Pot Pies, along with the recipe. It sounded so delish that I made some for us one day and it is a definite winner.

We stopped at Vandula Farms market a week ago and I bought 10 lbs of baby beets. We both enjoy pickled beets and they are the easiest thing in the world to make. Nothing gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than seeing a row of jars sitting on the cupboard.


Our trailer didn't sell as we hoped this past week, so unless God performs a miracle in the next 5 days it looks like we will be camping again next summer. Once the warm season is over the trailer sales business drops to near zero. Should the temperatures sky rocket next year like they did this year, we may be very grateful we didn't get our wish. However, we've left the results to God and will go with whatever happens.

We had friends over for dinner last night and had a super duper time, as usual. Tina from down the road, Sharon, Bill and Mary from New Westminster came around 4:30 and we had a terrific time. Mary and her late husband were fishermen when Sharon and her sister were young, so they had many stories to tell of what life was like for families that worked on the water.

For supper I tried a new recipe, OVEN CHICKEN FRICASSE: The original recipe was found on cooks.com but I made a few alterations that suited our tastes better.

10-12 boneless chicken pieces, I used 4 breast halves, skin removed and cut into 3 pieces each, and 8 drumsticks
I also added 1 medium onion, diced in large dice
6 tbsp. butter
6 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 to 2 tbsp. paprika
2 cans condensed mushroom soup
1 c. water
1/2 c. sherry

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan ( a bit larger pan would have worked better as this was pretty full and did sputter over in the oven ). Scatter onions on the bottom of the pan and arrange the chicken pieces on top of them. Using a pastry cutter, mix the butter, flour and spices until crumbly. Spread on top of the chicken. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Whisk together undiluted mushroom soup, water, and sherry. Pour over the chicken. Bake 30 minutes longer, or until tender. Serves 6 with leftovers.

Tomorrow I'll be visiting a lady who recently moved here from Oliver. She was my mom's best friend, and is considered the Aunt that we would have chosen, if my mother had been blessed with having a sister. She is a terrific Scrabble player so I'm looking forward to the visit.

There will not be any blog updates until we get back from vacation, but I look forward to keeping abreast of what's happening at home so make sure you keep YOUR blog current..
Ciao
Marg