Wakey! Wakey! Coffee and tea on the deck in 15 minutes. You'd better bring a towel for your butt because the chairs are wet from last night's rain.
The Girls have eaten and are now hollering to get out for potty. Back later.

Morning all! Great coffee out here today Ruth, and I dont mind a little wet now and again.

My lunch is in the oven, roasted aubergines and tomatos (no, I am not going to dress as an aubergine). England lost the footie last night (Euro championships) and everyone here is a bit glum. Although we should be used to it by now as our national sports teams are a bit of a joke really.

Well, I tidied the office up yesterday and now have no excuse not to get down to the work properly. Off to a barbie tonight, good op food hopefully (although it is cold and rainy so I dont know how much fun it will be....). And tomorrow I am going to the House and Garden show to spend some money. And off to see mum and dad on Sunday. Action packed.....

love to all

Morning - waving across the pond! Hey, what's the recipe for that lunch? I'm moving into summer mode with food and am drooling although it's still just before 8 AM.

hello!

OK, here is the recipe....

what you need
Aubergine, cut up
tomatos
cumin seeds (one teaspoon full)
olive oil and vinegar dressing
salt and pepper

tin of chick peas, drained
basil leaves
chorizo sausage, or parma ham

what you do

you mix the first five ingredients and roast in a medium hot oven for an hour. Then you mix it with the chick peas, basil leaves and meat.

Yumm!

What you can do is fry off the ham/chorizo in a bit of the oil left from the veg roasting, but I dont bother. You can also add harrissa (that hot spicy paste from north africa) at the end, if you like some heat, but I dont do that either.

This is ok on phase one so long as the chorizo is not smothered in sat. fat. It is wonderful....the basil leaves just wilt slightly in the heat (a bit like me....).

Do try it!! We can sit out on your deck later and indulge....

Thanks, Clovey. I'll move this to Recipes later. I do know harissa from a wonderful holiday in Tunisia. I love it and brought home a jar!

Do you want red or white wine? And would strawberries and yughurt be OK for dessert?

mmm red for me thanks Ruth, and strawberries sounds lovely for dessert. In fact I could knock up some strawberry dipped chocolate.....(one of my fave SBD recipes....).

aaaaah! It's the Ruth and Clovey thread!

Good morning, girls!
Clovey, I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering WHERE THE **** you were! You SOUND reasonably sane.

Ruth, it's beautiful out! And there was a very cool wind last night... we left the windows open. I love my attic bedroom. It has windows east and west. And it has six loads of unsorted laundry on the floor... back later...

oops, 'chocolate dipped strawberries'. Hmm. Prefer my emphasis.....

Ellis....I just LOVE the six loads of laundry on the floor look! So deconstructed. Loft Living.....stylish and spacious.

this week in STAR...."alien eggplant wearing woman hustles through the streets of Canada with 6 hot trash mags stuffed under her arm" ellis you totally crack me up!! my grandma got me hooked on the enquirer when i was just a little girl, she totally loved the stuff in those mags. now that she is nearly ninety and in a nursing home with alzheimers i read them to her just like she did for me when i was little. next time you go in for your purchase hold you head up high, lay 'em face up on the belt and look the cashier in the eye!!! (if thats too bold buy a womans day and lay it on top) as far as lottery tickets go i can't bring myself to buy them either.

ruth the coffee is good!! hope you enjoy your day!!

clovey- yum yum i'm in for lunch. nice to see you around. have a good weekend!!!

well shoot i got side tracked for a minute and forgot to tell you all about ME. i went to a lovely home demonstration party last night (i usually hate these) but this one was different it was a relaxation party a pamper yourself kind of thing. we soaked our feet in these warm salted baths and wore warm neck wraps and slathered ourselves with delicious smelling creams, we got wonderful pedicures and hand massages it was heavenly!!! i actually relaxed for the first time in weeks. yup i'm feeling really good right about now!!! gonna lay in the sun for a bit this afternoon and soak in some vitamin D. it feels good to take care of myself. going with the new attitude, i have also decided to quit feeling sorry for myself and make the number on the scale move again!!! wish me luck.
ta ta for now hope you all have a great weekend on the beach!!!

Jodi, you're killin' me. Killin' me.
That's such a beautiful story about you and your grandma. You're a darling.

Clovey, we're so glad you're back.

Morning chicks...

My coffee is brewing, so I am a bit behind!

Ellis I was cracking up at your story. I am an avid fan of People mag- love it!

Jodi Your relaxing evening sounds divine!

Clovey I had some strawberries with chocolate the other night and they were so good!! I don't know what an aubergine is!

Well, gals, I need you to say a quick prayer for me if you are the praying type. I had a mammogram last week and they called back saying there were some abnormalities they needed to look at. So, I went for a sonogram yesterday- totally unconcerned- because I have had fibrous lumps before. They are not unconcerned, I am going in for a needle biopsy this afternoon. I am really still not thinking that something is really wrong, but am a bit freaked out over the procedure. As anyone else had one of these done? I did give birth to an 8 pounder and that hurt like a so I can't imagine this is that bad. Just send some good vibes my way!!

That said, I was still OP yesterday and felt strong for not stress/emotion eating which would have been the case 6 weeks ago.

Kiko - I will say prayers for you. I've never had a needle biopsy but we do have some good doctors/hospitals in this area. Please keep us posted.

Oh, Karen, I will definitely be saying prayers for you. You are so right not to worry. Worrying is absolutely pointless, and I'm sure you'll be fine.
I had a needle biopsy about ...yikes...10 years ago or so on a lump on my neck. It wasn't a big deal at all. The only big deal was that I was worried sick (needlessly), brought my sister along for support, and wore a large cross around my neck. (to ward off vampires, perhaps?)
I seem to recall a small bandaid being slapped on my neck afterwards.
You're right... compared to giving birth, this'll be nothing!
Take care, sweetie... keep us posted.