Happy Anniversary!!

Follow the link for my blog entry today, Friday March 31!

Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad

High Five for Friday!

Check out today's blog post!! Follow this link:

mindofahummingbird

Have a great Friday everyone!!!

I'm better at hello

My latest blog entry is just a click away. Please follow me to:

http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/im-better-at-hello/

Get Packed

I'm moving to Wordpress! Please follow me and read my latest post:

http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/get-packed/

Working From Home

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http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/working-from-home/

Take your anger for a walk

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http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/take-your-anger-for-a-walk/

Dinner parties and miracles

Please follow this link to my post for today: Thank you for reading!

http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/dinner-parties-and-miracles/

Hello Friday!!!

Hello Friday, you look GORGEOUS!

I'm linking up with Lauren from: http://www.frommygreydeskblog.com/  and here are my High Five For Friday personal highlights for the week.

1~ I finished a new crochet piggy bride and groom couple and I love them, especially their tails!

 Look at those piggy tails!!

2~ Count down to our Florida return has begun (10 days till lift off) and with that comes the packing and cleaning and trying on of summer clothes. I am thrilled to say that I can fit into several items in my storage bin that were not working a few months ago! (stands up and takes a bow).

3~ I have been bouncing around the idea of changing my blog setup and have just begun working with a Wordpress template as a possibility. Please check it out and let me know what you think but remember it is in the embryo stage. mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com

4~ My new crochet project today is a set of love birds. Stay tuned! Cute to the max! 

5~  In looking through photos I rediscovered this one from Paris. Sigh...I still wake up every morning hoping I'm still there.

Thank you for checking my blog out. I hope to see you again soon. And please let me know what you think about the Wordpress move. Merci! And have a fabulous Friday!

Sunset over Monaco, Monte-Carlo

Today I am sharing a picture I took last month. Searching through my photo files, I found this and I was instantly transported to the night it was taken.

One evening on my walk with Anna, we came to a opening in the wall and saw this. The street down from us, towards the Olive Tree Garden, has this magnificent view of Monaco over the water. And every day (I mean it when I say every day) the view is breathtaking. No matter the weather, no matter the time of day. Ever time I pass this spot, I am compelled to stop and look at the view. And this night the sun had just just set behind the mountain, lighting the sky on fire.

When I look at this picture I am struck by how rare and lovely each moment of our life can be, because just a few minutes later this moment was gone. If I hadn't been right there, right then, looking in just that spot, I would not have seen it.

Live one moment at a time. And, take the time to look back through the photographs of your mind, savoring the deliciousness. 

S P R I N G !!!!

It's here! My second favorite time of the year. Spring heralds summer (my favorite time) and in my mind it is all about beginnings. Everything and anything seems possible in Spring. The flowers come back and you can smell them often times before you see them. On my walk yesterday the jasmine and the honeysuckle were wafting and enticing me. The weather is kinder, gentler. The summer birds start to come back and their laughter and chatter can be heard from sunup to sundown. We get cabin fever and decide to clean our homes and organize our closets. We get to switch out clothes and hang our winter coats up and out of the way! Here in the South of France the change in seasons is not as noticeable as home in Rhode Island but a bit more than Florida. Here, the sun gets warmer, the flowers blossom and the color of the sea changes to a deep and inviting blue. And the summer restaurants along the beach re-open!

I wonder why there aren't Spring resolutions like there are New Year's? I think we should start some.

My resolutions for Spring 2012 (a wonderful excuse to use bullet points!):

• Lose 10 more pounds before summer. 
• Drastically cut my hair and get a summer ready style. (suggestions please!)
• Visit the gym while I'm in Florida during April and May regularly and tone up!
• Set time aside every day to work on my book.
• Work on finding a way to sell my crazy crochet animals.
• And come up with a name for my crochet business. (help with this one would be great too!)

Well, I have a ton more resolutions I could add but enough is enough. I want to actually reach these, so let's leave the list there.

How about you? Leave me a comment about your Spring 2012 resolutions!!

Latest Crochet Creations

I've been on a crochet kick this last weekend. So here are a few of the little monsters I have made:

Two Peas in a Pod Wedding Couple. They are so in love!:

Pinky Penguin with White Beret:

Pink Octopus with Hat. (feel like this one needs a mustache):

Little French Wiener Dog with Pink Beret, naturally:

Happy Monday everyone!

Cooking again

With my shoulder pain most intense when I am cooking, typing or washing the dishes, we have been getting by with very little cooking this past week. Finally I felt rested enough and well enough to get back to the kitchen. Dennis had bought my favorite, fresh broccoli, so I set to making my ole' standby broccoli dish, a recipe developed by my mom:

After rinsing the broccoli I set it for proper steaming on the stove. Here is the most crucial part, you don't want to over cook the broccoli or let it boil rather than steam. I also salt my broccoli to taste.

I use a saute pan with olive oil and chopped onion, cooking slowly over low heat.

Garlic, glorious garlic!

Peel the cloves

Mince them up.

Add the garlic to the already cooking onions. Watch that the garlic doesn't burn.

The broccoli should become a lovely bright green when it's ready. Turn off the heat. I adore that little stainless steel steamer. It fits in any pan and keeps your veggies out of the water.

According to Bernard, pasta needs "many waters" to cook right, along with a splash of sea salt.

You can really use any pasta style you prefer.

Once the garlic and onions are cooked well, I remove from the heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough, I transfer the broccoli to the saute pan and turn the heat up low to warm everything up while the pasta cooks. I will sometimes add more olive oil at this point.

This is wonderful if you add fresh grated Parmesan. Sadly we were all out. Still, it is a yummy and easy lunch!

Paris-Day 2

I've been traveling quite a bit lately and because of that it isn't uncommon for me to wake up and have no idea where I am. So day 2 of Paris I did just that.  Blinked a few times, waited for my head to clear from the muddled dreams and as the fog cleared I heard traffic far away and the hammering sounds of construction.  I looked around the room and remembered....I am in Paris.  

Opening the window and stepping out into the brisk December morning, I drank in the sights and sounds, including the construction on the other side of our street where the Military Academy was. 

What to do with our brief, golden hours of daylight.  We head out to coffee.  Since we have been living in France long enough to understand the way things work, it wasn't difficult for us to find a cafe and order coffee and croissants. Paris isn't necessarily more expensive then any other city, its just as expensive. We drank our coffee and looked over our city maps while waiting for the croissants to come out of the oven. Well, we ran out of coffee before the oven could finish so, naturally, we needed more coffee.  Our bill for breakfast was as follows:

4 coffees

+

4 croissants

=

25 euros

or

$32.34

Needless to say, I wanted to dive out the window while Dennis was down in the bathroom.  Somehow, spending $32 on pastry and coffee seemed extravagant. Delightful but extravagant. 

After our breakfast debacle we walked toward Madame Eiffel to see how bad the crowds were at the tower elevators. And they were bad.  The tour buses parked on the side streets were a good indication. So we continued to the river where we discovered the boat shuttle that would bring you past 7 major sights and allow you to board and disembark all along the river, all day long. That was for tomorrow.

We continued across the river toward The Arc de Triomphe were we watched in fascination as eleven streets emptied out into the round about without direction or order. Complete chaos. I couldn't take my eyes away from the hornets nest of cars and buses, motorbikes and trucks swirling and vying for position around this massive monument that Napoleon commissioned in 1806 to pay tribute to his victories in battle. The foundation alone took 2 years to complete.  Sadly, the structure wasn't completed until 1836...not in time for the Emperor to see it for himself. However his remains were brought through the Arc before they were laid to rest in Invalides. You reach the Arc by passing through a tunnel under the crazy street above.  Walking around and through this beautiful 164 foot historical piece makes you feel tiny and brief.  For a fee, you can also walk up to the top and bask in the view.  It marks the beginning of the Champs-Elysees "the most beautiful street in the world".

Friday I'm in LOVE!

High Five For Friday! This week has been crazy for us. My mother-in-law has been in the hospital all week. Nothing too serious but severe dehydration and at her age (95!) it had to be treated by professionals. So between twice a day hospital visits, running our two online businesses from home, crocheting my crazy animals, writing my book, blogging and trying to exercise every day (plus the usual cooking and cleaning and walking the dog)...I am welcoming the weekend with open arms. Here is my list:

Five things I love!

1.  The way my puppy Anna does a huge stretch every time I ask her "Do you want to go for a walk?" She is so cute and the BEST exercise buddy!

2.  I love this little Fiat 500 and every time we see one I make my husband snap a picture of me next to it, acting like it's mine.

3. This little guy I just finished! He is a gift for my dear friend back home. The pattern is from www.planetjune.com and she has the best crochet patterns for adorable animals. Check her out!

4. The flowers are blooming here and summer is on it's way! I love that!!

5. And with summer coming....I will soon be eating this again! My all time favorite food combination.

Happy Friday everyone!

Almost time to pack for Florida!

"I'm leaving on a Jet plane"

It's that time again for us. We have been staying here in France caring for my mother-in-law since the  beginning of January and come April 2nd we will be flying home for a long visit. In fact, for quite a while. The other siblings in the family, my husband's brother and two sisters, will be coming to take turns looking after their mother and visiting with her. So Dennis and I will be returning to his family in Florida for the month of April, May and a little bit of June! I already have plans to fly up to RI to see my family as well. I am really excited to be home again with everyone. I can't wait to drive our car again! It sounds small but believe me, once you are cut off from being independent you really enjoy the simplicity of getting in your car and just going.

I do worry about Miss Anna when we leave. Sadly, she cannot come home with us because there is no where for her to stay in FL. My step-son-in-law (that is probably not the proper way to write that) is very allergic so Mistress Anna must stay behind, soaking up the sun here in the South of France and keeping Denise and her visitors company. I wonder what Anna's journal entries will be like during the time we are gone?

                                                                                                                              April 2

Well...they left for the airport today. They seemed sad to leave me but I think they did it on purpose. All this talk about allergies and difficulty with my travel papers. It all sounds suspicious to me! Well, at least I can con everyone here to give me tons of treats and overfeed me while Sarah is gone! I'll be living the high life here in France while they sweat it out in Fl :) Hahahahahaha

At least that is what her eyes say when I pull my suitcase down and start selecting things to take with me. Anna sits in the hallway outside our room, head on her paws, with this look of absolute abandonment mixed with a "how could you?" look of betrayal. Its gonna be so hard leaving her!

In flux

I am trying to decide whether I should switch to a different blog setup. I want to get the most readers and followers I can and I wonder if a change would facilitate that. Since I know just about nothing about blogging and getting my blog visited, I'm really writing blind here. Any and all suggestions that you dear readers would like to make, I accept gratefully. And here is a link to a practice switch that I am thinking about.  http://mindofahummingbird.tumblr.com/  Please visit it and let me know what you think.

Should I stay or should I go?

Car accidents that haunt you years later...

In 2008 I was driving along with my sunroof open and my windows rolled down, soaking in the late afternoon sun on a hot July Friday. Traveling at about 40 mph, moving with traffic, I saw a white flash out of the corner of my right eye and then BAM!  I was hit by a box truck that was exiting the freeway without stopping or yielding to the flow of traffic. The truck hit my little red Subaru on the A-pillar of the right side and smashed the car in all the way to the gas cap. My car was shoved across the busy street where I came to a dead stop. Miraculously, no other cars hit me. Thankfully my window was down so my head and upper body swung outside the car and then back in. Although I was sore and my kidneys were bruised, I did not sustain any immediate and more serious injuries.

Except that today, while visiting my French Homeopathic doctor for another treatment of my neck/arm and shoulder pain on the left side, he asked me if I had ever been in a car accident.  Um...yeah, why?

Well, this pain that I have been living with now for over 4 weeks may be due to that same car accident years ago. The tingling down my arm, the stiffness in my neck and the occasional left-side headaches that I suffer with are all long term injuries from that guy not obeying the traffic law, striking my car at 50 mph. It is a real possibility that I may have developed arthritis in my neck causing all of this pain, a condition that will only deteriorate as I...  wait for it.....AGE!

Arthritis....at 34.   So discouraging!

The next car I buy will have to have side-impact airbags!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks the 3rd wedding anniversary of my step-daughter Denise and her husband David.

Dennis and I are not able to join in celebrating this happy day in person because thousands of miles separate us but our thoughts are with Denise and David and we wish them a happy happy day full of love and good memories and a lifetime more of happy anniversaries!!!

Homeopathic Treatment for My Pulled Shoulder Muscle

The fact that I am exercising and trying to lose weight would obviously lead to me hurting myself and possibly suffering a set back. Sigh

So I was using my husband's work out bands, doing some seemingly simply arm exercises. No  big  deal. I felt weak and quickly tired but nothing beyond what I considered normal for my current state of total muscle limpness.  Little did I know. 

Evidently I greatly strained and pulled the muscle running between my shoulder blades on both sides, (I'm thinking these could be my Lats) making any use of my arms and hands very painful. Of course! Typing, washing dishes, eating, even walking and moving my arms side to side..any simple movement that stretches the muscles back there delivers searing hot pain between my shoulders. And after, when I try to rest, there is a burning electrical sensation that runs up to my neck and down my fingertips on the left side. OUCH

3 weeks of this before I look for treatment. I self medicate with every drug I have in my substantial arsenal. Nothing touched it. I tried ice..I tried heat. N O T H I  N G helped. 

So I went to visit the local Homeopathic MD in my town. Dennis had to translate for me but he seemed happy to in the hopes that I would get some relief (and he would get some sleep).

The Doctor told us that he got his medical license but then he felt that too much emphasis was put on drugs and not on treatment. So he branched off to Eastern medicine and he continues to travel to China yearly to stay current.

So acupuncture needles went in all over my shoulders and back, even one on each ankle and another in my neck. I have done acupuncture before and was always pleased by the relaxing experience and boneless feeling I enjoyed after. My current state is much worse than anything I have done to myself before. Each needle felt like an electrical spark of heat and they never diminished during the 20 minutes I lay on the table. My treating physician explained that there was significant swelling and it may be some time before I felt improved. My life story.

But that is not all.  He didn't just stick me and leave me. He prescribed oral herbs to help reduce the inflammation and repair the strain. Also a cream of copper and zinc that Dennis rubs on my back twice a day. 

It's day two since my treatment began but I have to honestly say that I feel no improvement, yet. I am really trying to think happy thoughts and dispel the negative ones I automatically feel but still, my back is killing me with every hand and arm movement.

I do enjoy taking the herbs though. Each tiny white, minty pebble is dispensed in a tube with a mechanism that allows you to release one which you then drop under your tongue. You can't touch them with your fingers. I assume this is because the herbs cause crazy boils and rashes when they come in contact with the skin. Mmmmmmmmmm......? I don't care what it is, as long as it works!

 

Date night: A visit to the Cinema in Monte-Carlo

Being full-time caretakers to my 95-year-old mother-in-law here in France and working from home full-time running 2 Internet based companies, my husband and I have very little time for ourselves. Which also leads to very little time out and we are almost never alone together since my mother-in-law requires 24 hour care and we cannot leave her.

In this challenging situation, we are enormously grateful when someone can stand in for us for a few hours so that we can run errands or get our hair cut or buy groceries. We are even more excited when we can go out on a date because it is so rare! Since we came back from our 3 week visit stateside in December, we have not been on a date. Which is exactly what we were able to do last night. Our new friend Lisa came and stayed here for a few hours while Dennis and I went to the movies. It was delightful!

Living in the South of France, finding a cinema where I could understand the film is a little challenging. But, as it turns out, we just needed to travel to our neighbor country of Monaco. About five miles away, Monaco borders our town of Roquebrune-Cap Martin on the western border.

A short drive to Monaco, where we parked in one of the many underground parking facilities and a short walk brought us to the Cinema of Monte-Carlo. They offered 2 movies in English so we opted to see The Iron Lady. The theatre was spacious and clean. The popcorn was salty and perfect. The Iron Lady was heartbreaking and lovely. Such a great film!!  We finished the night by driving down to the Port of Monaco and sharing a wonderful pizza at a corner restaurant that sat directly opposite to the driveway entrance of the Palace of Monaco. Not my usual night at the movies!

Dennis and I hamming it up outside the Casino in Monte-Carlo. Not the average location for a movie theatre! 

I did ask for no mushrooms but pulling them off after the fact worked out just fine!

Wonderful date night! Thank you so much Lisa! We enjoyed every moment!

Any excuse for fireworks!

Here in the outskirts of Menton, France we are enjoying the continued celebration of the Lemon Festival.

Last night was another parade night with the rumor of fireworks. So at 9:30 P.M. we drove our 1980s Mercedes down to the town and parked as close as we could to the road block. Walking towards the parade barrier, we selected a lovely little street side restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious cappuccino and the taster plate of miniature desserts. As our server pointed out, if we couldn't choose which dessert to try, try them all! From the brownie to the tiny tiramisu, I was enthralled.

Plus, the tiny desserts were served, not on a plate, but on a piece of slate!

Soon, the street lights went out, cluing us into the start of the fireworks. We paid our bill and dashed outside, joining the crowds on the street as they made their way down to the steps that lead to the beach.

With the waves of the Mediterranean lapping near our feet, we watched as Menton light up the night, in tribute to Lemons.

So much fun on a Thursday night in March.

The Sunbathing dog

I know, you are tired of reading about people's pets and the funny darling things they do, when you don't think it's all that funny.

But trust me, MY dog Anna is different. She is more human than I am. And I was able to capture a few moments of her doing what she does that makes me laugh and I wanted to share:

Exhibit 1: Every morning, when the sun is out, you can find Anna sunbathing on the front balcony. Just look at her facial expression.          B L I S S.      I look just like that when I am sitting in the sun. All she needs is an exotic umbrella drink in her paw!

Exhibit 2:

Here I am proud to say I captured the absolute essence of Anna, when she is around tall grass. Usually Anna can't control herself around even short normal grass. She has to roll in it like a fool. But with this high ornamental grass, she throws caution to the wind and rolls like there is no tomorrow. She usually gets completely lost from my view and tangled by the time she is done.

That's all for now. I'm sure she will do something again soon that will be worthy of note. :)