Author: Adventure For Two

I am from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada and I'm back from traveling with my husband on an expat assignment to foreign lands. 2011-2012 we were in Shenyang, China. Spring 2012- Spring 2013 we were in Resende,RJ Brazil then back to Shenyang, China in July 2013 until the end of July 2014. Expat life WAS amazing! Adventure abounds no matter where we travel to. We really enjoyed the amazing opportunity to live and experience culture and tradition in these places. BUT now we are finished and adjusting to life in our small town in Canada. Our days of travel and adventure are not over.

Time to CLEAN out the gardens!

The leaves aren’t all down yet…

…so more than likely we’ll have to do it again, BUT today we cleaned out the gardens and put the furniture away. The time goes back an hour this weekend and so days are shorter. It’s easier and we have more time to do this clean up on a Saturday. David has been quickly running over the lawn with the mower after work to bag the leaves, but the gardens needed a little extra…getting in there on hands and knees and raking and cutting off the dead stuff, and pruning a few limbs. It’s always a bit sad to put the furniture away but I really do enjoy all the distinct seasons we have here.

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It’s was little bit cold this morning ( there was frost) to do this but I wore a hat and lots of layers and I was really thankful I made soup so we could have a good bowl of delicious soup for lunch to warm up! Yummy Acorn Squash soup!

This afternoon wasn’t as bad when we tackled the backyard, it seemed to warm up a bit. We got all the furniture put away ( I left a few wooden pieces out) and all the gardens cut back. Like I said…we will have to do it again I’m sure because the leaves aren’t all down, and we also need to put up Christmas lights at some point. It’s just so nice to get out on a warmer November day to do the bulk of it!

Hope you’re enjoying your Saturday! Remember…a little extra sleep tonight! Turn your clocks back.

Tea or Coffee?

Are you a tea drinker or a coffee drinker?

Well….I am BOTH! And with lots of variety and methods of making both!

I tend to choose coffee over tea more times than not. The smell is what gets me. I LOVE the smell of coffee!!! Even though I love coffee, I think the smell is so much better than the taste.

Living in two foreign countries, We drank a lot of tea in China, and a lot of coffee in Brazil. It’s really hard for me to choose one over the other. In China, there were just so many interesting and unusual varieties and flavours. They make tea from pretty much anything…it was fun to experiment and taste. In Brazil, cafezinho was EVERYWHERE! Little shots of great tasting coffee, especially if you could get it without the liquid sugar. So I really enjoy both!

The problem is, I don’t think so much caffeine agrees with me. I am forever struggling with too many cups in a day. I try and cut back on coffee ( and drink mostly tea) BUT then I smell a good cup of coffee…and on days like today when it’s a little dreary and a little rainy…there’s nothing like a great cup of coffee ( and a good book)

What is your choice of hot beverage? Coffee or tea?

Happy Weekend!

I can’t believe they have THESE here….

We were picking up a few things at Walmart and I happened to look in a frozen case.

What? Really? Here in Canada…so cool!

David thought I was talking about the Canadian decorated cones just in time for Remembrance day. BUT…no! It’s red bean bars! In Walmart in Bridgewater, Canada!

I REALLY will have to get a box to see if they are the same.

In China we enjoyed many food made with red beans. These were delicious!

It’s gonna be Hootenanny!

Haha…oh my! This is the advertisement for a group that performed at our church tonight.

I am not a HUGE country music fan ( I like some) or Christian music with a country flare ( I like contemporary Christian music) … a hootenanny? …but Tim Neufeld from Starfield ( this group I know) … and once you get past the hootenanny part…it looked like it would be a good concert so we went.

Well…it WAS a Hootenanny! But that’s ok. It was really good and a lot of fun! Here are a couple pics. Oops, I really should have taken a video…

And now I am home relaxing watching the CMA’s (because I do like certain country artists and love to see them perform) It’s just that kind of night!

Welcome November!

Happy Halloween

Haha, we had a little bit of fun. Here are our costumes this year…

Is it Supergirl?

NO… IT’S SUPERMOM!! 😂

And the kids went to parties. James…

Laura…

Andrew & Kristina…

Lots of treats…

Wishing you a great night and lots of fun with all your little trick or treater’s!

Abby waiting with Laura to pass out treats

She sat on the step all evening…racing down to the door so excited to see the kids in costume.

150 kids later and just a handful of treats left…it was a good night!

My friend Neti

Oh my head! I am having another week of stuffiness and a bit of dizziness. Time to get out my new best friend! Well she should be my best friend BUT we are having issues!

Meet my “looks like a genie in a bottle” Neti pot!

A neti pot is a container designed to rinse debris or mucus from your nasal cavity. You might use a neti pot to treat symptoms of nasal allergies, sinus problems or colds. It’s important to use a saline solution with bottled water that has been distilled or sterilized.

My doctor has me using this device once a day or every other day, especially when my sinuses are acting up. We are thinking that the whole heavy head and dizziness is related. However, whenever I use my Neti, I feel worse. It clears the sinuses great BUT my head feels awful!

I’m just wondering if you have ever used a neti pot? Do you like it? Do you get good results?

Have a great weekend…the last one of October!!!

Fallen Leaves

It’s that time! Time to ~~rake~~ mow the leaves!! The beautiful leaves are just starting to fall and so for the first little while we can just mow and clean them up. I mean David can mow them. In a week or so we’ll do a thorough rake, mow and Fall clean up of the gardens. I’ll help with that. It’s nice to get everything cleaned up before the snow falls. The way temperatures have been in the morning it won’t be too long. Brrr!

I knew David would be chilly when he came in from outside so I made “fresh out of the oven” banana bread. I usually don’t have over ripe bananas to do anything with because all three of us eat bananas like monkeys! But the “littlest monkey” brought home two slightly bruised bananas from his lunch box and instead of throwing them out, I made something we all love!

Yes, all of us! Someone is feeling better and is a little beggar!!

Have a great day!

Memories

A lot of people don’t care for social media. It definitely has its pros and cons. One of the good things is that you can look back…a year ago, 2 years ago, 5 years ago… I love this feature. It’s also one of the reasons I blog. Blogging is like a journal, a diary, pictures are worth so much when you can look back and remember special times and events that might otherwise be forgotten in your current daily activities and responsibilities.

This week there are lots of pictures and posts coming up from a year ago… posts that make me wish I was right back there!

Last year at this time I was in China! Walking on the great wall, eating delicious authentic Chinese food, spending quality time with my sister in law and my niece, walking familiar paths, visiting Chinese friends… ahhh….

I am so thankful for such wonderful memories!

It’s soon time to make more!!! I think I’ll cook up some jiaozi for lunch…

Fur Baby is SICK and Family Sunday

Saturday was a rainy day!

BUT Today is a gorgeous sunny ( but breezy) day after all the rain yesterday. A lot of leaves came down with the wind and the cover blew off our propane firebowl. Guess I know what we will be doing this week. It’s getting to be time for leaf raking!

I’m tired! I was up off and on last night with my Abby girl. All day yesterday she wasn’t herself. Didn’t want to eat anything. Last night James & I were having some snacks while we watched a movie and he gave her just a couple small pieces of plain potato chips. I don’t know if that set it off… WARNING MAYBE TOO DETAILED FOR SOME READERS!!!

…but she was up and down all night and from about 4am on she was throwing up blood and even bleeding from her rectum. Not fun. I’ve had experience before with blood from both ends with a dog and it didn’t end good. So anytime Abby has blood issues I worry and fret, it takes me right back to our first dog. Later this morning after all that, she went out to poop ( worst poop ever) and threw up again. I bathed her, because she was a complete mess!!! She has been resting ever since and doesn’t want me to go too far…Whatever it was seems to have passed, now we just wait and see. With such a tiny puppy, it seems like every once and awhile I have an issue like this to deal with. Take her food away nothing to eat and drink for a day until she dries up…poor little fur baby.

Today is a “Goode Family” Potluck. We try to have one of these every couple months. It’s hard to get everyone there, there’s just so many of us. David’s parent’s will soon be on their way South to Florida for the Winter so there’s only a few more weeks left to see them.

I didn’t go today because Abby was still not great but I cooked up some goodies for David to take…scalloped potato, brown sugar maple flavoured meatballs, and apple crisp. Yum!!I wish I was going. I love scalloped potato but rarely make it.

Laura was there and having lots of fun playing dress up with one of the littlest members of our family.

Tonight I’m just cozy inside watching another movie. I don’t watch a lot of movies but sometimes it’s just nice to cozy up and relax.

And that’s my Sunday!