My New Favorite Munchie Snack

I've always liked chips - until a few years ago. I don't go for all the fancy flavours. I like plain, sour cream & onion or BBQ. A few years ago when I was trying to shed a few pounds, I stopped eating junky stuff. I hadn't had any chips in a couple of years. Really! When I was offered some - blech! They were so greasy and salty. My lips felt all slick and slimey. I was very disappointed. I didn't want chips any more. I mourned; but moved on. Then I discovered Baked Lay's. They weren't really like chips and they were incredibly salty. I liked the BBQ flavour better than the others and they would do in a pinch, but it just wasn't the same.

Yesterday, while I was shopping, I spotted these - Kettle Chips - BAKED! They were a little pricey, $2.99 a bag on sale, but I thought 'What the hey'. These are awesome! They look like potato chips (unlike the Baked Lay's) they taste like potato chips, but they're not all greasy and salty. They come in Plain (lightly salted) , BBQ and cheddar. I only saw the plain ones. They will certainly do for now. I have found my new favorite muchie snack! Move over popcorn, there's a new spud in town!

I Agree With Rick

In a rather humourous way, Rick Mercer manages to get his point across. I completely agree. They are being a bunch of pricks.

Frampton Comes Alive! Again!

I remember when this album first came out. (yea, I'm old-ish) IT WAS HUGE! I've resurrected it from my old collection and have fallen in love with it all over again. I've been listening to it over and over for days now and I'm feeling nostalgic. Hmmm, now where did I put Nazareth - Greatest Hits?

Animal Wellness

Trish gave me a copy of a magazine called Animal Wellness and I liked it so much, I wanted to post about it. The entire magazine is full of very informative articles. It seems to have a holistic/organic edge to it which is pretty cool. There is one article called 'Making Household Cleaning Animal Friendly' which gives ideas for alternatives to harsh chemical cleaners that can make pets very sick. There was a site mentioned in the article called Eartheasy that is worth checking out if you're looking for safe (and inexpensive!) cleaning tips & tricks.
There were also some very heart-warming stories. One about Hurricane Katrina rescues, a reflection of life with a dog who has since passed. These sorts of stories are real tear-jerkers for me, literally, but I read them anyway. There were articles about caring for a special needs animal, how to train a deaf dog, Lyme disease, urban wildlife and so on. I think it's a great magazine.
Of course as with any magazine, it's chock full of advertisements. A lot of the products are herbal/organic. There was a big full page ad for Solid Gold. That's the food we give Simon. He eats Hund-N-Flocken. Simon doesn't get a lot of crappy treats either. Once and a while we'll buy him some Beggin' Strips or something like that and he goes nuts for them, but that is really just junk food for dogs. I prefer to give him more nutritious treats.
We do Simon's grocery shopping at Pet Valu because for starters, they carry the Solid Gold food and lot of other natural/organic treats that we like to get for Simon. With his allergies, one being chicken, it really limits choices where dog products are concerned. Reading labels on my food and Simon's has become second nature now. I do sometimes buy him canned food for a treat. One company that am quite impressed with is Merrick. Their pet foods contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives! The names of these "dishes" crack me up as well as the descriptions on the side of the can. Simon's favorites are Venison Stew and Mediterranean Banquet. They are quite expensive so he gets it for a special treat and I mix it with his kibble to make it stretch. They say the pet industry is a multi-billion dollar business...no kidding!
One ad in the Animal Wellness magazine that really peaked my interest was for Northwest School of Animal Massage. How cool would that be? Someone would ask "What do you do for a living?" and the answer could be "Oh, I'm an animal masseuse." Of course, I still want to go to wine school and get a better job in the wine industry (better than the one I have right now) What if I could do both? How gratifying and exciting would that be? I could even combine the two. A table, a glass of vino and massages in the barrel cellar! I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven!

Finally - The Misery Is Over

The Leafs beat Ottawa last night 5-1 which made Jim VERY happy, but they are officially eliminated from the play-offs. What a dismal season this has been. We can only hope that there are some big shake-ups and some good trades in the off season. Go Leafs Go!

Happy Easter!

Rick Mercer

Rick Mercer is one of the funniest people ever. I've been following him since his 22 minutes days. He now does Rick Mercer Report on CBC on Tuesday nights. He still does his famous rants which are a favorite of mine. I read Streeters years ago and laughed the whole way through. If you check through the video archives he did a segment at Inniskillin Winery featuring Yoko! Jim and I know Yoko from a couple of years ago. Recently, we were up at the winery and told her we saw her on TV. She thought she looked silly and dumb. We thought she did great. She told us that the segment took about 2 and a half days to shoot and how Rick was very nice, but not jokey off camera. She said as soon as the camera started rolling however, he was on.
Rick makes me pee. He has a blog too. I have a link set up to the right. One of my favorite things that he does is take a photo and post it. Then, people get to play with photo shop and create a "new" photo. Here's some of my favorites.

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Is it just me or does our Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Honourable Peter MacKay look a lot like Adam Sandler in this picture?

My birthday and Microsoft - Grrrr!

Sometimes I get so frustrated with this damn computer. I had a big long post typed out, all nice with links and everything, and then Windows® froze! Dammit! I lost the whole thing. I tried to click 'save as draft' but no go. So I'll try this again and hope it works.

We had plans to go to Fielding Estate Winery in the afternoon. They were having a Sample & Shop day. It was a chance for them to showcase their new releases and a chance for us to try them and buy them before they officially went on sale. Originally, it was going to be Jim & I, Michelle & Joe. Jim was stuck working the Milton Home Show and couldn't get out of it. Joe had to do some catching up on his schoolwork. Because of the college teachers strike, he's been working Saturdays to make up for lost time. So, in their place, Bill & Georgina came along. Bill is always a bit of a nut, full of crazy, funny stories. They had just gotten back from vacation in Costa Rica so the drive out was lively and interesting.

On the way, Michelle wanted to stop at Angel's Gate. We did some tasting at the bar and I picked up a 2004 Gamay, which was a re-release this weekend and I got Jim a 2003 Cabernet Franc. While I was browsing, I saw on a table just as nonchalant as you please, about 6 bottles of 2002 Angel's III. I couldn't believe it! I thought it was all sold out. The girl who was serving us said that was all that was left. Michelle and I each got one. That is going to be a treat.

We left there and drove up the road to Fielding. We checked in, grabbed our glasses, brochure and map and went downstairs to the tank room. The set-up was 1 or 2 wines per table and a host to talk about the wine and answer questions. I think in all there was about 11 or 12. There was 'light fare' set up in the barrel room which consisted of bread, crackers, cheese, dried & fresh fruit and nuts. Our first stop was at the Pinot Gris table. Mrs. Fielding was pouring and when she found out it was my birthday, she gave me a giant pour. Then she gave me another "for the birthday girl". I heart her! When Jim and I had been to the winery not long ago and signed up for this event, I happened to mention that it was on my birthday. I guess they made note of it somewhere, because when some of the staff heard someone in our group mention my name, they said "Carrie? Is it your birthday today? Happy Birthday!" How's that for great customer service? We got to taste and buy some really good wines. I picked up a couple of 2005 Chardonnay Musque & a couple of 2005 Gewurtztraminer. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon really stood out for me. Probably one of the best I've tasted from Niagara. It had only been bottled a couple of months ago, so given time, I can only imagine how good it will be. I got 4 of those. :o) I think all of us had a really enjoyable time there.

From there, we drove to Jordan to visit The Upper Canada Cheese Company. We had tried their cheeses before, but Georgina hadn't and she's a total cheese nut so she really wanted to check them out. All of their cheese is hand-crafted and so delicious. I bought some dill crostini and some cheese to save until after Easter Georgina got a couple of pieces of cheese and a cheesecake that she cradled like a baby on her lap on the drive home. Bill doesn't like cheese, but was very gracious and patient while we asked questions and browsed.

I got home with enough time to have a nap and recharge my battery. We then met up with Michelle and Joe at Tucker's Marketplace for dinner. I got my meal free because it was my birthday. I requested no singing, but Michelle must have charmed the waiter, because I got singing. And all the while, Michelle had a mischevious gleam in her eye. I'm onto her! We had some good food, a nice bottle of wine and some great conversation. Michelle got me a subcription to Vegetarian Times but I already have one. She said it was not a big deal, she'd switch it to something else. I felt terrible, but she kept insisting that it was OK. Jim got me a NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!! I'm still playing around with it and trying to figure out how to use all of the bells & whistles. I'll now be able to post my own photos!
We said our good-byes in the parking lot and Michelle and I made tentative plans to get together this week. She leaves for Calgary on the 18th, so we want to spend some time before she takes off.

Jim and I then headed over to the Navy Club for Adam & Kirsten's stag and doe. Not exactly how I'd plan to spend my birthday, but we went along anyway. After a few watered down drinks, the music was still crappy (why do they always play Bob Seager's 'Old Time Rock and Roll' at these kinds of things?) but, we had a pretty good time in the end. We got to see some friends that we haven't seen in a while. Jim ran into Dave Courtney and they spent a lot of time chatting and catching up. I think there is now a big paintball game in the works. Barry and Tracie's sister, Tammy were both there and we're all April 8 babies. That was cool. We ended up staying until the end and when we got home I wanted to play with my camera, but could only manage staying up for a half hour. I was bushed! Being another year older seems to have taken it's toll.

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's now officially my birthday! Woo-Hoo! I've got a full day planned and will report the details perhaps on Sunday. Right now I'm off to bed. I've had a shitty, fucked up week and can't wait to put it behind me. This birthday girl needs some serious ZZZZZ's. I'll leave you with a picture of one of my first sleeps. This is a picture of me taken by my dad on the day I was born. I was only 18 hours old here. I haven't really changed much, have I?

Live Eagle Cam

One of the girls over at the Go Vegan forum posted this link to an Eagle Cam that runs 24 hours. It's located on Hornby Island in British Columbia. The eagle has laid eggs and is sitting on the nest. I can't wait until they hatch!