Author: boomingbanter

When we were out yesterday for our constitutional one of our neighbors stopped her car and rolled down the window.

All smiles she asked me « how’s Scruffy doing ». Scruffy indeed! Scooby was deeply offended!! So it was this morning, when the others were sound asleep, we got out the comb and started to untangle a few knots.

It’s a painful process so it was rewarded with a car ride which is high on Scooby’s most favorite things list. We had to make a run to the local free store as Aaron had again brought back a big box of buns last night.

As we were driving we shared secrets. Mine was that I’m starting to get a Marie Antoinette complex delivering all these cakes. He said not to worry since they all have French names people would understand and not be offended! He just begged that when it come to hairstyles any inspiration from her majesty was to be avoided.

We took a spin past the little cottage and he advised it was too much for a Queen to undertake and the area was not up to scratch since there were no pooches at all to be seen.

Under his guidance though we sniffed out a delightful hidden treasure of a neighborhood also close to the town center. That will be our focus from now on!

All we need to do is find the right Scruffy and give it a lick of paint and gloss!

Blessing # 622 – Groomers Guide

Today started out beautiful but the north wind soon returned and put my poor daffodils in deeper jeopardy.

The little buds are well through the ground let’s hope this doesn’t stamp them out after all their early efforts.

After a coffee and chat this morning with my buddy Lori I did a little house hunting. A sweet but sad looking little home has been on my mind. Built in 1901 it’s seen better days but after a roam around today and a peak through the windows I’m going to arrange a visit inside. What do you think of it? Isn’t it kinda cutzy cottagie?

Fired with plans the next stop was Restore to look for ideas and bargains that might work for this flip and then on to Goodwill for some treasure hunting.

Found a few little lovelies but also had an embarrassing incident. When I turned over one item it turned out to be two! The top came crashing to the ground. Absolutely mortified but what can you do except say sorry and make a fast retreat.

By now the appetite had been well wet and as luck would have it today was the first of the famous Friday fish fries held throughout lent by our local Catholic Church.

We got there at five thirty and already five hundred people had arrived. By the time we left the number had risen to close to one thousand. It’s such a great community feel and no wonder so many turn out you just cannot beat piping hot fish and chips with all the trimmings you can eat! Liking Lent a lot!

Blessing # 621 – Smashing Stuff

This morning just after five we got a call from school to announce a two hour delay! This was fortuitous for a certain young man who had worked a full day yesterday and needed some shut eye as we all did.

So alarm off and back to sleep till seven. There wasn’t much snow but it was like Siberia when Scooby and I stuck our noses out for his job.

No sooner were we back in and Aarons lunch made than the phone rang. School cancelled for the day! Well at least lunch is done for tomorrow.

After Zumba I hid myself in the basement with Scooby and got on with the tax. Aaron slept and Krishna ripped up paper! Such was the progress that all the planned tasks for this week were completed a day ahead of schedule.

So when my friendly Irish voiced cyber helper asked me what he could do for me I was a tad abrupt with him. He got the message and for thé first time I realized it’s written as a message too!


Just as I was reflecting that perhaps the lack of sugar was starting to show already the door bell rang and There stood a young man with a big bouquet of flowers. Better still another lay in a huge box on the door step! Was the cypher hunk really that sorry?

Well no. They were both from our dear Patricia in Switzerland who had tried to send flowers for my birthday last week and they didn’t arrive. Well they sure arrived today in abundance and are divine!

Blessing # 620 – Sweet Surprises

Fasting if you hadn’t noticed is getting a lot of press. It’s the latest weight loss trend. Not sure it’s a good one but maybe works for some.

Fasting is as old as he hills and practiced in all religions. Today is the start of we Christians longest fast Lent!

Historically this was treated very seriously and people had only one meal a day. Today it’s more of a personal challenge rather than a community event.

Since it lasts forty days it’s a good time to break old habits. They say it takes about six week to form a habit so six weeks abstinence should help restore a soul back to its original state! That would be about seven pounds off please!

My usual downfall happens when  I’m watching TV of an evening and ice cream finds it’s way into a bowl or peanuts pop into my palm.

Recently breakfast has been torpedoed too with Aaron bringing gone all these pastries and baked bombs.

So it’s off with the added sugar, desserts, snacks and all yumminess. As Aaron wisely said yesterday we’ll see how long that lasts!

When it’s a challenge though it’s easier to stick to don’t you think than just telling yourself your going to do it! Very purifying! Some limits though to what a body can bear!

Blessing # 619 – Clean Up

It’s shrove Tuesday and by rights we should be eating pancakes at Church. Instead, since it’s Aarons day off, we are having a family outing to a new restaurant called Aladdins at his request.

Its next door to where he works and very trendy. There is also the draw that one of his best friends works there and so do lots of good looking young ladies!!!!.

The decor is lovely and what’s most interesting is they are catering to all the new diet trends like keto, high protein and gluten free. They have very fine cutlery that gives it a high star rating for me and the napkins are recyclable. All in all all in Millennial!

We each had something different so we could taste and try. Yummy. Especially loved their hot sauce.

Wouldn’t recommend anyone coming too close tomorrow though as they may be overcome by even more garlic fumes than normal!

Blessing # 618 – Arabian Knights

Monday’s definitely not my favorite day of the week. This dates back to school when we had double maths in the morning and triple physics in the afternoon. Mortal! Talk about lasting damage!

The only thing that kept me going was the prospect of the Waltons on TV in the evening. Oh John-boy!!!

Today I was particularly miserable. It was grey outside and I didn’t feel good. No sneezing or sniffles but just generally blah! Seriously wondering is it psychosomatic as my goal was to get stuck into those tax papers.

To cheer myself up I decided I’d have a nice soak with a bath bomb but the stupid thing just oozed out pink color and never did explode.

I’ve eaten nothing but junk and am  mopping around like a monster but Scooby still loves me.

We women are lucky in some ways if we’re feeling yuck we can slap on a little more Clinique and up the ante on the mascara.

Now there’s the one and only thing I did love about today my new Falsies Lash Lift. This stuff works like a dream! If you haven’t tried it yet get down the shops tomorrow!!!

Blessing # 617 – Maybelline Magic

Aaron starts work at 4:00 pm. It’s a bit early for all of us to have our dinner before he leaves so we’re having to think of what meals we can make for him and then have later ourselves.

Stews, stir fries and curries are good options but there’s only so much of that a body can take.

On Friday we made chili and have a huge quantity left over. It’s going to be disguised as lasagna tomorrow but for today we stuck with it’s Mexican roots as quesadillas.

There is nothing simpler. Just bang a big tortilla into a frying pan with a bit of butter fill it till it’s about to explode with chili and cheese and then top it with another tortilla. One flip later and you have a big plate of food for a healthy appetite all done in five minutes.

A certain person is in on the act these days when it comes to cooking so we have to watch out for that.

Don’t want any hot dogs unless of course they happen to be topped with chili too.

Blessing # 616. – Señors Satisfied 

You all know the saying “it was the cherry on the cake”. Well for the past three days I’ve encountered lots of cherries!

For our Lily Circle meeting on Thursday one of our group Mickey had baked some absolutely delicious little cherry morsels. Everyone was so taken with them we all asked for the recipe.

They’re of Amish origin and involve a lot of fine work to make but man are they good. Might give them a try some day when I’m working on building patience.

Yesterday Laura and her daughter arrived bearing armfuls of gifts as always and along with this a box of pastries that were huge! None of these were cherry but they were washed down with a nice bottle of what else but Cherry Blossom Pinot Noir!

Today it was the second team meeting for our next Kairos weekend and once more a baker extraordinaire hit the jackpot with what else but a Cherry Pie. Perfect pastry, tart yet sweet and not at all gummy or sticky!

Funny how good things always come in threes! Don’t you just love it when you couldn’t make it up!

Blessing # 615 – Casual Connection

Yesterday was National Love Your Pet Day so social media was coming down with cute and funny pics of critters.

Most posts, like the Obama’s, were beautiful yet quite conventional.

Others had little video showing just how clever their pets are. The one I like most was the best beggar.

Those entering pet parenting often start with a goldfish, as I did at aged three, and then progress to birds before hitting the heady  heights with a cat or a dog or if you were excessively lucky a pony!

In days gone by if you lived on a farm or small holding like my Mom you may have had a pet goose or a lamb. Alas the lifespan of such lovelies was limited!

Today though it’s not unheard of to have a pig as a pet. Most are pretty small and potbellied but not all. Take Esther The Wonder Pig as an example. She is adorable and someone to follow to see what love is all about.

She absolutely adores her Dads and you gotta see all the love they give her in return. She works so hard on changing the world for good and on napping. Check her out for some feel good vibes when you have a chance. I love her so!

If there was one pet I’d love to have though just to hang around with it’s a sloth. They are so odd yet so engaging.

Maybe that’s why I just can’t get enough of our Scooby. There is a slight resemblance don’t you think?

Blessing # 614 – Funny Faces

When I woke up at four thirty this morning the only thing on my mind was taxes. We had a call with the accountant scheduled for nine and even though the person is lovely and helpful the thought of what lies ahead with all those piles of papers drives me nuts.

Activity is the best way to get rid of imminent frustration so after Aaron left for school and Scooby had his walk I took to cleaning.

Our friend Laura and her daughter are coming to spend the night with us tomorrow. Fortunately they are not the sort of people who expect to find the place pristine otherwise they’d never come but just in case they venture into the basement it was attacked first. Aaron spends a lot of time there so it has a definite Eau Sauvage! That’s the dead sock  buried perfume not the Dior!

After the nine o’clock call there was no stopping me. Cleaning doesn’t grab me often but when it does I’m on a roll and you better get out of the way.

It was the first time Scooby encountered this mania. It’s not that I have done absolutely nothing since he arrived in September but he hasn’t seen any fine detailing before today. His little look of curiosity with the head tilted to one side then the other was precious.

He spurred me on so much that the skirting boards got a going over and even those nasty little bits between the spindles on the banisters got a squirt of Kaboom!

Nothing will ever make me love this cleaning business but what I really LOVED very much today was my little helper. He followed me everywhere and by the time I got really sweaty and was on my knees doing the fiddly bits he got down beside be and started licking my back. It must have been nice and salty because he kept up the good work till I was done.

No picture of that to prove it just one very sleepy boy who is out for the count on the couch.

Now if we could only train him to put that tail of his to use and do some of the jobs himself he’d get more than a chewy we’d have to get him a really big bone!

Blessing # 613 – Puppy Pupil