"Go get Nottie and call me!"

We

adopted

Wally's best friend.

Nottie,

from

Wood's Humane Society

in 2009

for us,

going

to

an animal shelter

was

quite

an

emotional

adventure

as

we wanted to adopt

ALL

the animals

Annie

sat in front

of the

cages

and cried...

so many puppies,

middle aged and older dogs

needing

homes

and love

we seriously

wanted to

adopt them

all

we brought Wally with us

to choose

a friend

after

a bit of

hesitation,

Nottie and Wally sniffed

and

chose

each other

we think

Nottie

was a

barn dog

that had to

fight for food

and

attention..

adopting

isn't always easy...

some animals

(like people)

have issues

LOVE HEALS

Wally loved

Nottie and Nottie loved Wally...

Nottie missed Wally when he died...

but

Love heals

yup,

it does

twice the love

came

when

we got Huckleberry and Phinn

and

they adopted

Nottie

as their

"Nottie Mommy"

quite a trio

a contented and

LOVED

smile

;

love heals

the

"go get Nottie and call me"

is when

Annie and Andrew

were

tag team

baby sitting

Nottie

and Nottie

decided

to chase the wild turkeys

in our neighborhood.

Annie's friend

heard

her tell

Andrew to

"go get Nottie and call me"

Blarney, Blessings and the Irish Hills

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.

a wee

Irish Blessing

to

begin

our

hike

in

the

wild

Irish Hills

Annie,

John

and I

thought

the

sunny

cool

day would be perfect

for a hike

the hike

actually starts

(or ends)

right behind our house

and

goes

up

and up

and follows

the hills

canyons

and valleys

west

behind

Costco

you can see

SLO

hidden

behind

the foothills

of San Luis Mountain

it's

pretty

rocky and rough

along the way

we followed

the Froom Creek Trail

babbling creeks

and

waterfalls

break the quiet

of the

deep canyons

evidently

folks hike

these hills

and forage

for Chanterelle mushrooms

they say when

the

weather

is cool

and moist

there are hundreds of Chanterelles

hidden

under logs

and

tree roots

you would

have

thought

that we found

the

'shrooms

but

no,

just happy

the poppies

are

just starting

to

pop

waterfalls

trickle

down

throughout

the canyons

and after

about

five

miles

of trails

you end up

(or start)

behind

Costco

and

return

to civilization

May brooks and trees and singing hills
Join in the chorus too,
And every gentle wind that blows
Send happiness to you.

Red hearts for those you LOVE!

Breakfast

For

Those You Love

….

A year

or so

ago

I

read about

Red Velvet Pancakes

from

Caroline,

the

creator

and chef

in

one

of

my favorite blogs

coeurdela.blogspot.com

I have

pondered

those

RED VELVET PANCAKES

and have salivated

just

thinking

about

them….

so

Pre-Valentine's Day

Sunday

was the

perfect

day

to

test

them out

We

used

a

recipe from

Recipe Gir

andl

…doubled it

as we had over forty guests for breakfast

and

used our cute

heart pancake molds

to make

the

perfectly

delicious

chocolatey

Red Velvet Pancakes

PANCAKES:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or make your own buttermilk)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon red food coloring

Whisk the dry ingredients

(flour to salt)

and set aside

Whisk buttermilk, eggs, vanilla,vinegar

and

red food coloring

and

carefully

mix the dry and wet ingredients

together

until

just incorporated

(do not overmix!)

Spray the heart mold with PAM

as the batter sticks

and

cook pancakes on a 400f f. griddle

as you cook pancakes

Happy Brithday, Boog!

February 9

2011

I thought it to be

terribly

self indulgent

to

write about

my son,

Andrew

as

he celebrated

his

24th

birthday!

and feeling

the

need

to be

self-indulgent

again….

Happy Birthday

#25,

Andrew!

I

am

so

proud

of this kid!

although not quite perfect,

he is

an

educator

(aka teacher)

-

passionate

thoughtful

caring

brilliant

and

he
has

this

great big smile

that warms my heart

I

love

and

celebrate

YOU

today

and always!

food glorious food

you know

when

you

have

a

really

delicious

meal

you want to

scream

from

the

mountain tops

and tell everyone about it!

yesterday

we

had

one

of

those

meals

for

lunch

at Thomas Hill Organics Bistro

love the

brick

facade

and

the

choices

on the menu,

unique

combinations

of flavors

fusions

of goodness

really...

LOOK!

a grass fed beef burger

with

bacon

and

Cambozola cheese

and

carmelized onions

really?

yummm

and

Beluga black lentil

tacos

with

gingered carrot puree

coconut cream

toasted coconut

cashews

and cilantro

….really?

yes,

REALLY?

o.u.t.s.t.a.n.d.i.n.g.

!!!!!!

and

then

I had

Kale

and

Brussels Sprouts

salad

oh…so GOOD!

John

had

Thomas Hill Organics'

take

on the

Vietnamese Bhan Mi sammie

with

Pork Belly

….it was divine!

the local wine list

rocked

with really lovely

wines

by the bottle

and

by the glass

simple beautiful touches

were everywhere

a

cheery

fountain

lunch

was

amazingly

delicious

..farm to table

organic

fresh ingredients

and

so

affordable

Thomas Hill Organics Bistro

Paso Robles

can't

wait

to go

back!