Tasty Tuesday - A Treat From Mabel

When the peeps were at min-BAR, the marvellous Miss Mabel, sent a special treat home with them, Huckleberry Syrup. 

On Sunday, they gave it a try on their pancakes. 

The Lady and Man thought it was very yummy. This is very high praise coming from Canadian's who are genetically programmed to think REAL maple syrup is the only thing that goes on the pancakes. 

And while there were no extra pancakes for us this weekend, we did get a dollop of whip cream on the plates to lick clean. 

We made sure the plates were clean! 

Thank you Miss Mabel and her peeps for the special treat! 

Mischief Monday - I Ear You

We are back! Lady has returned from trip 6 this year (while on trip 6 she planned trip 9 . . . . it is a work trip. We really wonder if she likes to be home).  At any rate, the Man did a fine job caring for us in her absence. We were very excited to have her home Friday night and just couldn't stop sniffing her and getting pets.

So while she is living the glamours, jet setting life (Editor's note: Lady would like to put on the record that it is far more glamours than it sounds, it is downright exhausting, especially when you work the equivalent of 2 weeks in 1 . . .), we have been fine.

The only real problem we have right now is Phod's ears. In spite of the fact that the Lady and Man are cleaning them at least daily, he just can't shake the problems. They are very dirty, and they get itchy, and he scratches them until they bleed. We assume it is related to environmental allergies. He is on allergy meds. This year is apparently the worst allergy year ever! People who have never had allergies are having problems. This is probably making it worse. 

He does not enjoy this process, but he is very cooperative.  We hope they get better soon or at least don't get worse. 

This Interruption in Posting Is Brought to You by

The Lady never being home.

Hi pals. Thought we would do a quick post to say we are all fine. It has been a cold, wet spring and the bugs are terrible, but we are all good. The big problem has been Lady is just traveling way too much! She just got back from her 5th trip this year and is home for a week before going on her 6th trip.

Let's just recap the fun she has had this year.
Last week in January/first in February, she, the Man and Uncle Chris went to the Caribbean.
In March she was gone for a night for work.
In April she was gone for 2 nights for work.
The last week in April/into May, she and the Man went to see our blog pals in Utah.
She just got back from a weekend in Nova Scotia with our Grammie and Aunt C.
Next she is going away for work for a week.

She says she only has 2 more trips planned after next week (we are sure she will find a way to get more). One is to visit the Big Guy and Grammie in the summer and we may or may not be going with her. (We hope we are, but we will see how she is feeling about traveling with us). Then she and the Man have a trip to Europe in the fall.

Lady, who while does not like airports, overall does love to travel says this year has been a little intense.

All of that to say, our visiting and posting will be a little erratic for another week or so. Lady says when you are away so much and run your own business that sometimes when you are home, there is a lot to do. She is prioritizing spending time with us over writing about her time with us. She says she hopes to be back into routine around June 17th.

Hope you are all well.

A picture of Lady, Grammie and Aunt C. There are no new pictures of us, and we may have forgotten what she looks like! 

Nature Friday

On the weekend, we had all been enjoying the new patio furniture and sitting outside. The dogs asked to go inside, so they did.

Shortly after a very cheeky Red John made his appearance.

This was very upsetting to Lee who was watching outside the back door. But not as upsetting as what happened next. The little squirrel ran right up to the patio door (I missed the exact moment) put his paws against it and then turned and ran away.

Hailey has to be on tie out on our deck because she can run off and if a squirrel is brave enough to come up while she is out, she will chase it and if she is lucky kill it! 

Travel Thursday - Vegas Baby!

When we went to the mini-Bar last month we had the option of flying to Vegas or Salt Lake City. Vegas won. We had only been there one other time about 9 years ago. That time we stayed off strip. This time we stayed in the fairly reasonably priced, on strip Harrah's (it was a very nice hotel).  I would say the city is cleaner now than it was then. But at the core it is the same. Vegas is truly everything I hate about humanity and yet I love it. I love it because it is honest. However, it is a place I can only love a few days at a time.

On our first full day we walked the strip, stopping for drinks and food and a little gambling. 

Us at the Flamingo

Statue of liberty made of Twizzlers

Art in a mall

At the Bellagio

In the Bellagio

Because we are big foodies (and nice places are safer for people like me with lots of food issues to eat at), we had dinner that night at Gordon Ramsey's Steak house in Paris. 

The overall experience was great. Because you are in Paris eating at a British restaurant, they have a 'Chunnel' you walk though. The marketing in the restaurant is amazing. The pattern on the ceiling matches the glasses and the menu. I will say the chairs were very uncomfortable. I really did appreciate that one of the first questions the server asked was are there any food allergies. They were super good with them and actually double checked something (which if I had eaten the rest of the trip would not have been as fun).

One of the most impressive things was the wheel of meat. They brought out this wheel with a sample of all the cuts of steak and explained it.

In the end, we went crazy and ordered the most expensive steak on the menu, the American Wagu. The steak is now tied as the best steak I have ever eaten (Michael Jordon's Steak House in Chicago is the tie, I would really need to do a side by side taste test to see what is best). 

I took pictures of all the food but am just sharing some

We also had a side of mashed potatoes and Brussel sprouts. The food was amazing. The service was maybe a little fast. I like a slower pace at a fancy restaurant and we were out within about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I have no regrets eating there, even after the credit card bill with the price in Canadian dollars came. 

Our stop after dinner was to the Rio to see Penn and Teller. They are the longest running show in Vegas history. They put on a really fun show. It was reasonably priced and lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Then after the show, you can stop and have your picture taken with them. We stopped at Penn's line as it was shorter. They have done this every show for over 40 years. 

On our second day, after vegging by the pool (it was May 1 and it was snowing at home), we went to the Billboard Music Awards. This was not in our plan, but we had the opportunity to go. When else am I going to see Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brother's reunion, learn who BTS are, and see Kelly Clarkson, Paula Abdul, Madonna, Mariah Carey and others all perform in one night. It was interesting to be on the other side of the TV show, but no matter what side you are on, 4 minute commercials are long. Fortunately my BFF was watching it and she and I texted at the commercials. Watching the crowd was as interesting as watching the performers and we saw some things. 

After the show, we went to Caesar's Palace to Bobby Flay's Mesa. This is still a pricey restaurant but a fair bit cheaper than Gordon Ramsey's steak house. The food was not as good, but was still excellent. The Man's chicken was overcooked and I didn't like my tomale, but my lamb was perfect. They even had a dessert (banana pie minus the crust) I could eat.

We enjoyed our 2 days in Vegas and then headed out to Bryce to meet up with the others. It is so amazing to me that this blog, which was designed to help me cope with my beloved Lee resulted in this opportunity. It is a reminder that you never know where life will take you. 

Next week I will share some pictures of our road trip to and from Bryce. 

Wordless Wednesday - Finally a Little Sun

New Furniture

We have lived in our house for almost 7 years and for 7 years we have said we are going to get some patio furniture for the back deck, and we haven't until this year. Some of the reason for the delay in this is my weird cheapness (I have no problem spending money in some categories but find it hard in others). Patio furniture can be very, very expensive especially when you consider at best it is not going to be in storage for 5 months of the year. I found a deal I liked, with a piece I liked.

It arrived Friday so Friday night after dinner we unpacked it.

Phod did not like that we were doing new things and stayed at the edge of the garage. 

Hailey on the other hand was very helpful and in the garage the whole time. 

Finally a nice place to sit out back. 

Hailey likes it and is happy to sit out with us. The tie out needed on the deck will be explained on Friday's post (short story, she will run away).

Phod is not so sure about the new furniture! But he is enjoying sitting outside with us. 

Next purchases will be a storage container for the pillows so we don't have to use the dinning room table and maybe an umbrella. I hope to have these by 2025:)