Valentines Magic

Ahhh, breakfast!

So what happens when your new hobby, chocolate making, collides with your old, well-loved hobby of cookie baking? Magic...and a massive sugar rush...followed by the sugar crash of the century. With all the tasting I did, it took me two double espressos before I was able to be get motivated enough to finish. But after my heart started pumping again, I whipped these suckers right out!

I started off just dabbling with chocolate. I used both milk chocolate and white chocolate tinted with a pink icing color. (By the way, does anyone know of a line of food coloring that uses more natural ingredients? I just detest that chemical-y taste that some of the food colorings impart to your food. Plus, who KNOWS what you're ingesting! The FDA says it's safe but, frankly, I just flat out don't trust 'em. If anyone has any suggestions or has a favorite brand, could you please email me at inbetweendayz at hotmail dot com? Your suggestions would be much appreciated!).

After a few false starts, I managed to successfully pipe the chocolate into filigree hearts and circles then eventually graduated to writing. I have to say that the writing was the hardest part of the whole process. I'm a printer. I print EVERYTHING, from lists to love letters. Heck, I haven't written in cursive since 5th grade and wasn't even sure I remembered how but once I got my uncoordinated brain around the idea that the letters actually have to connect, the words just started flowing.

As the chocolate was left to cool and harden, I whipped up some sugar cookie dough and also the chocolate cookie dough I used for Valentines Day last year. Once the cookies were baked and cooled, it was time to decorate!

Remember the crafts table in Miss Barnett's first grade class? No? Well, too bad for you because it was AWESOME and this reminded me of it! Since I have no elaborate gardens to tend, sigh.... and yes! I'm still pouting so don't bug me about it, I have to find my zen place in other ways and this did the trick. Swirling and smearing and dotting and combining the chocolate with the iced cookies, it was like making those cut-out paper hearts at school and being so excited to run home and show them off.

Since I was duped by my trickster hubby into running a 5K on Valentines Day, (Who the heck organizes a race on Valentines Day?! You wanna know who? A husband who has run out of romantic ideas and figures putting on a race is a great way of skirting his romantic responsibilities! I swear, once I crawl over the finish line, I am going to stagger around until I find him and then I plan to clobber him with one of my cookies!), I probably won't have the strength to type. So, just in case I don't survive, I want to wish you all a very Happy Valentines Day. May your loved one give you something more than a sweaty high-five at the end of a grueling and unnecessary run.

Gardening Contained

We had a little orchid mishap on our way home from Vegas a couple of weekends ago. The motorhome took a bump just a little too fast and the landing was a bit too much for the pot containing one of my orchids. Of course this meant I was given free rein to run right over to a local garden center to replace the pot. Yippee...cough, ack....I meant, too bad, so sad.

The culprit that started the whole thing, Cymbidium, Eastern Promise. (Promise of inciting riots if you ask me!)

I charged...umm, I mean, I meandered very calmly and sedately on over to Lowes with the specific purpose of purchasing a single replacement pot...and, of course, the potting medium needed to repot a Cymbidium and, well, I needed orchid food as I have been using a generic houseplant food for quite awhile now....and of course, if I'm repotting one then I really need to repot the other as you want them to match, don't you? And since I was getting new pots, I should definitely get the platters for the pots to sit in to catch the water because EVERYONE knows that orchids need humidity so if I just put some of those cute, little river pebbles that Martha suggested in the platters and then set the pots on top and let the water pool, my orchids would be much healthier and happier. But why in the world would I buy a tiny little bag of designer rocks when I could go outside to the landscaping area and get a huge bag for half the price?

And this, my friends, is where it all, shall we say, hit the fan. (Honey, if you're reading this, close the page and walk away from the computer. You know darn well you love fresh herbs as much as I do and some sacrifice has to be made to have them. Plus, I promise I will not buy one more plant for a whole year....well, with the exception of another strawberry plant because who can have just one for godssakes?)

And so, the doors leading out to the garden area slid open, and so did my resolve. The sight of all of those plants just begging, BEGGING, to be planted almost brought me to my knees. The POTENTIAL of each and everyone one of them called out to me, seducing me with visions of lush, vibrant gardens bursting with life. Oh, the fun, the absolute joy, of designing and planting! Zen gardens, formal gardens, country gardens, water-wise gardens, cactus gardens. It all swirled and danced before my eyes. And the scent!Oh people! The glorious smell of blooming flowers, fresh dirt, tantalizing herbs and living, breathing greenness drew me in and seduced me like the infamous siren's song of sailors lore. Yep, I was a shipwreck waiting to happen.

Disaster was, indeed, on the horizon as I ran out among the plants, breathing deeply and stroking velvety leaves. Citrus trees and jasmine and hibiscus and, heck, they even had a PLUMERIA! A plumeria, people! (I still don't know how I passed that one up!) But it was as I was pondering whether I should go for the trumpet vine to entice the hummingbirds or the gorgeous pale pink hybrid tearose that I can never pass up that the buzz-kill hit. Hello, I live in a motorhome! Not only that, we pick up and move every 3 months so planting an extensive garden was absolutely not going to happen. Oh, the humanity! I wanted to fall to my knees and weep! The desire to walk out, get in my car and drive back to my little house in Montana was never so strong.

And, then, a miracle happened! As quickly as the buzz was killed, the inspiration came....YES! A container garden! Nothing fancy, just a few...small...containers. Everyone needs some fresh herbs and veges in their lives and we, of motorhome persuasion, are no different, right?

So, I put the rosebush down, picked it back up, put it back down, argued with myself, put it in my cart, pushed it around, took it back and put it down then walked away from it and only looked back twice...sigh... then headed home with my new, more compact additions.

And the funny thing is, even without holes to dig and dirt to turn and elaborate gardens to plan, I still found that lovely place I go to when I garden. That place where time stands still and the commotion of the world around you quiets and it's just you, in a garden, with a plant smiling up at you and the deep rich smell of dirt filling your senses and the promise of what will be staring back at you.

So the moral of the story? I guess you don't need a large plot of dirt to be a gardener, that the little things in life are just as meaningful, that a rosemary plant can be a great substitute for a plumeria......who the heck am I kidding?! I swear if I wouldn't get arrested for digging up the golf course green at the country club next door, I'd be over there with my shovel and breaker bar at first light and I'd have that labyrinth I've been dying to try put in before you could say "floribunda"!

To all of you magicians of gardening contained, I salute you!

Chocolate Frenzy

I'm addicted. I admit it. 100%, full-throttle, live it, breathe it, dream it addicted to chocolate. So there should be no surprise when I tell you of my new hobby.....chocolate making!

It started when I wandered past a heart-shaped chocolate mold and thought, Hmm, I could do that! And I did and I LOVE it! How fun it is to take the silky, fragrant, molten chocolate and shape it into wonderful little gems in all shapes and sizes. The scent of warm chocolate fills the motorhome and swirls out the windows making our neighbors lift their noses in the air and sniff deeply as they walk by. I love cleaning up and licking the bowls and spoons and my fingers and I love seeing the trays of cooling chocolates lined up in military rows with all the promise of their creamy lusciousness forming before my eyes. I love bagging the little nuggets of goodness in pretty little bags and passing them out and I love the smiles and excitement they bring and I love watching the pause as the receiver ponders the choice of which gem to pop in their mouth.

But, what I really love most? EATING THEM! Duh! Ok, enough typing. I'm off to tackle chocolate truffles.....

Full Moon Serenade

Here's a little something inspired by a beautiful post by Bee House Hives which I found through Nici's Dig This Chick blog. Don't you just love the blogging community?

The moon shines down and sheds its beams
On a girl and her dogs by a Joshua Tree.
Just visitors to this arid land
Amazed at the sparkle of moonbeams on sand.

And where does this full moon find you?

It's Fun to Run in Different Places

I found the above advertisement for JetBlue in one of my husband's running magazines and I liked it so much that I pulled it out and hung it on my closet door. And you know what? It IS fun to run in different places! I know it's been almost a year since my last post so let me catch you up to date.

Alas, the marathon never happened as we were assigned to Ketchikan, AK rather than the Anchorage area but I'm happy to report that I've continued to run. I am nowhere near gazelle status, in fact, I've hesitated for a long time to call myself a runner at all since, to watch me in action, you'd think I could probably make more progress at a fast walk but, screw it, I AM a runner. I wiggle into my skirtsport capris, strap on my running shoes, grab my visor...and I run...in different places...and, most of the time, it's fun!

Old US Hwy 2, Libby, MT

I've run on trails in the mountains of Northwestern, MT...

Salvage Trail, Ketchikan, AK

I've run on trails in Ketchikan, AK....

Beach off of Pierpont, Ventura, CA

I've run on the beaches in Ventura, CA....

Palm Desert, CA

And I'm currently learning to run on the streets in Palm Springs, CA.

Riley leading the way

I've run with my dogs, without my dogs, with bears, with seagulls, with eagles, past dolphins and orcas, surfers and golfcarts and cacti and pine trees and totem poles. And there are days when I'm just downright discouraged in my ability, my body, my...running. But through it all I've learned alot about myself and the beautiful thing is I'm still learning. Who knew trail-running would be a passion of mine, that I can get rid of a side stitch by concentrating on my breathing and taking deep breaths, that when I'm miserable and all I want to do is sit down...I can actually keep going, that even though I'm "not built for running", I'm doing it, that my legs are strong and the rhythmic crunch, crunch of my feet on gravel is a wonderful meditation in itself? So, I might not be winning any races anytime soon, and I still have to slink over to the "Large" clothing section in the running store but, so what! I'm a runner and I'm proud of myself and I'm going to keep running in different places because, damn it, it's fun!

Marathon Training (aka What the Heck Am I Thinking?)

I’ve always admired runners. Real runners, the ones that gallop along covering mile after mile with spines erect and toned arms pumping. Those sleek gazelles, muscles contracting then stretching out in a ballet of mechanics, making the effort look almost…well… effortless. My husband is one of those gazelles and he has a multitude of friends just like him who think nothing about going out for a quick 20 miler….up the mountain…in the snow (and if you think I’m exaggerating, just check out his blog http://www.fishbikerun.blogspot.com/).

I have to admit, I have always enjoyed hanging out with these superhumans. They have this camaraderie, this connection, that’s infectious and yea, ok, I have secretly hoped that by just hanging out with them maybe some of their athletic prowess would seep into me, like osmosis. But, alas, to no avail. They’ve always been more than willing to include me in their after-run breakfasts, the after-race BBQ’s, or the night-before-the-marathon carbo loads. Unfortunately, they could then go off and burn 600 calories by sneezing while I’m left holding the caloric bag (or saddlebags, to be exact).

So, with summer coming and a desire to squeeze into a bikini at least once more before things start sagging so low I’d need a crane to get them back into place, I have decided to really get serious about exercising. Wow, you might think, you are so lucky to have access to all of these athletes and all of that knowledge but you, I will point out, are forgetting one simple fact. They are not mortal! What is a warm-up to them would land me in the hospital. I waddle, they fly. I jiggle, they stride. I wheeze and hack, they breeze and whack…palms together in a high five after completing that 50 mile trail run and then head off to get pizza and a beer. Do you see my dilemma?

Erik's Exercise Log I’m sure you can then understand that it was with some trepidation that I mentioned to Erik, after he told me that he was planning to run the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, that I might, and I stress, might, want to run the half-marathon. Having been married to me for awhile, unfortunately he has become wise to my ways and knows of my aversion to any sort of athletic endeavor, and the first thing he said was, “You know you’re going to have to train…and that means running”. Hrrmph! But, once he was sure I wasn’t drunk and just spouting off, he actually got excited and came up with a training program for me. Gulp!

So, here I am, on the brink of becoming a member of a group I’ve so long admired…a runner. Ok, wait, let’s not get carried away. More, like, a jogger. Yea, a jogger. I can embrace that for now. And I’m happy to report I made it through 2 days of Erik’s training program….and I didn’t die, or cramp up, or collapse on the trail. My dogs did wonder what new game this was as I tentatively strugg…I mean, strode, down the trail, but, heck, I was doing it and I believe there was even a slight breeze in my hair and a trickle of sweat on my brow. Now, I certainly won’t be high-fiving anyone anytime soon and I do still have 10 weeks and 5 days of his torture training left to go but I will cautiously admit that my first tentative foray into this scary new world was, dare I say….fun?

First Day Of Spring

Spring is definitely springing here in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas. The weathermen are threatening more snow but I'm going to my happy place and will believe these 70 degree days aren't going to budge. All the local stores have started putting out their hardy annuals, varieties of bagged mulch and soil amendments and I have to admit I'm like a crack addict when it comes to that first sniff of rich, dark dirt. I want to grab my trowel and start digging! I knew I was in trouble when I caught myself with my nose pressed up against the glass of the local garden center wondering if I could possibly keep a hybrid tea rose alive in our rolling tin can that we now call home.

Ah, how I miss my garden right now! I'm certainly having a great time on the road but there is a piece of my heart left behind in the dirt of Missoula. I wonder if my crocus are up or if the tulips have started making an appearance, and if my little magnolia made it through this tough winter. So, to my gardening friends in Missoula, wish I was there to plot, plan, weed and turn that soil with you and please plant a pepper for me!